GTA launches new indigenous tours

THE Guyana Tourism Authority, on Friday, launched three new indigenous tours to expand Guyana’s tourism industry.
According to Kamrul Baksh, the Manager of Product Development within the Travel Industry Development Division (TIDD), and newly appointed deputy director of GTA, the tours will provide a wider scope into Guyana’s unique and striking indigenous communities.

“Today marks a momentous occasion for the authority and an extension by the tourism industry as we embark on launching three experiential tourism products, that is, Moraikobai, Wakapau and Seven Curry Tours,” said Baksh, who added that the tours “ are going to be new additions that will further diversify the tourism portfolio in Destination Guyana”.
He stated that, over the past two years, the GTA had been working to see the new additions to Guyana’s tourism portfolio come to life.

“The authority has played the fundamental role of facilitating the development of these tours by enacting the framework that provides the overarching structure that created these tours.”
The tours, he added, were built to bring much recognition to the indigenous communities and to spark development in the selected areas.
“These products are experiential in that the products are unique, they are immersive, authentic. It allows for participation and education, all attributes that characterise a true Guyanese offering,” Baksh said adding:

“Guyana’s tourism offerings are competitive from its pristine natural environment to the rich cultural heritage that visitors globally have come to know.”
Baksh said the tours will serve to strengthen Guyana’s tourism products, “by developing these tours, once travel resumes, visitors will be contributing direct spending within these communities and [will] help to support micro and small enterprises that are beneficiaries from the tourism multiplier”.
Additionally, he stated the tours will provide employment for many in the respective indigenous communities.

“The spinoff benefits of a tour are tremendous. It calls for the employment of many categories of workers from boat captains to guides to cooks to managers and administrators: the door of opportunity is pried open giving a chance to folks to enter the industry. The launch today will definitely create opportunities; it will also be a medium for cultural exchange, for learning and for the exploration of a beautiful country that few have seen,” he said.